The corpus luteum, which is what remains of an ovarian follicle after the release of an egg, produces the hormone progesterone. The corpus luteum continues to maintain progesterone levels throughout the first trimester of your pregnancy, after...
The hormone hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, is a hormone that your developing baby secretes to communicate to your body that you're pregnant. HCG has critical roles in early pregnancy--through around the third or fourth month--but isn't as...
Menstruation occurs when blood and the lining of the uterus is shed at the beginning of the menstrual cycle. A woman's menstrual period lasts from three to seven days and the menstrual cycle averages 28 to 32 days, the American Pregnancy...
Progesterone is a hormone that is essential to pregnancy. Progesterone is secreted first by the follicle that produces the egg after it has converted into the corpus luteum; then, the placenta develops and takes over progesterone production around...
HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, is an important hormone that helps let your body know you're pregnant. This prevents menstruation, and maintains the lining of the uterus, which nourishes your embryo and fetus until the placenta finishes...
Ovarian pain during pregnancy can be a bit confusing for many women. While some women experience ovarian pain each month during ovulation, most women know that ovulation ceases during pregnancy. Regardless, there are several reasons that women...
Many of your body's hormones work together to help maintain your pregnancy. One of these hormones is called progesterone, which also has functions in the reproductive cycle of non-pregnant females. If your progesterone level is low during...
The hormone human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, is naturally produced early in pregnancy. Women do not produce hCG on their own; the cells surrounding the embryo produce the hormone, so it is a reliable marker of pregnancy. The hCG hormone...
The hormone progesterone plays an integral role in maintaining the uterine lining so an embryo can implant and grow. The corpus luteum, the leftover remnant of the follicle that produced an egg that month, produces progesterone starting...
The abbreviation hCG is short for human chorionic gonadotropin. It is a hormone produced by a developing embryo during pregnancy. The hormone has an important role in both the detection and the maintenance of pregnancy. Pregnant women have very...
Progesterone is a hormone that your ovaries make from puberty until menopause. It is essential for normal menstruation, for becoming pregnant and for carrying a baby to term. Low levels of progesterone cause problems like irregular periods,...
The hCG hormone, short for human chorionic gonadotropin, is produced by human embryos and young fetuses prior to the formation of the placenta. The purpose of hCG is to communicate to a woman's body that she's pregnant, inducing changes in her...
Human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, is an important pregnancy hormone that helps signal to your body that you're pregnant and helps you maintain the pregnancy. Falling levels of hCG during pregnancy, depending upon when they occur, can signal...
Hormones such as progesterone, produced by the corpus luteum, the leftover "shell" of the follicle that contained the ovulated egg, play a crucial role in maintaining a pregnancy. One sign of inadequate progesterone levels is a short luteal phase,...
Biking provides excellent exercise, but it's not always advisable if you have a very large, symptomatic ovarian cyst. In most cases, though, an ovarian cyst shouldn't keep you from exercise like biking. Ovarian cysts are common in women of...
The female reproductive system is primarily regulated by five hormones including estrogen, progesterone, gonadotropin releasing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone. These hormones play a role in one or more stages of...
Positive pregnancy tests don't always indicate that conception has occurred. In some instances, false positives occur completely unrelated to pregnancy. Several medical conditions can cause the production of human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG,...
When a fertilized egg begins to divide into a cell ball called a zygote, it communicates to your body that you're pregnant by using the hormone hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin. If your hCG levels don't increase appropriately, it can be a sign...
When it comes to pregnancy, the body has its own way of letting you know it's pregnant through a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG. When an egg become fertilized in the body, the developing blastocyst starts producing the hCG...
HCG is short for human chorionic gonadotropin, which is an important reproductive hormone. Neither adult men nor adult women produce hCG; instead, it's produced only by fertilized eggs and embryos. The major purpose of the hormone is to...
Progesterone produced by the female reproductive system is critical to fertility. If progesterone levels do not increase after the midpoint of the menstrual cycle, this may signal ovulation failure, a common cause of infertility. Even if...
The corpus luteum, the follicle that releases your egg during ovulation, releases a hormone called progesterone in early pregnancy. This hormone is designed to thicken your uterus and maintain the pregnancy until around 10 weeks, when the placenta...
Ovarian cysts are sacs filled with fluid located on or inside the ovary, and although some cysts are harmless and unnoticeable, others can trigger pain during sexual intercourse or while exercising. Ovarian cysts are quite common and most of them...
Early in pregnancy, your developing embryo begins to secrete a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG. This hormone helps to communicate to your body that you're pregnant, and helps to maintain the pregnancy. Your doctor can use your...
The menstrual cycle, which occurs monthly basis in women of reproductive age, involves both the reproductive organs and the endocrine system. The overt physical changes that occur through the cycle---proliferation of the lining of the uterus, for...
Progesterone is a steroid hormone produced by women both during the monthly reproductive cycle and during pregnancy. It serves important roles in helping to prepare the body for pregnancy and maintaining pregnancy, and is also responsible for some...
The hormone hCG, which stands for human chorionic gonadotropin, helps to communicate to your body that you're pregnant, and maintains the pregnancy during its early weeks and months. Because developing embryos produce hCG, levels of hCG in a...
Progesterone is a hormone produced during the early part of the menstrual cycle by the ovaries; after ovulation the remnant of the ovulated follicle, the corpus luteum, produces progesterone. Once a woman gets pregnant, the corpus luteum supports...
Progesterone is an important female hormone; it plays a crucial role in embryo implantation and growth during the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle, which follows ovulation. After ovulation, the leftover remnant of the follicle that contained...
Ovarian cysts can have a range of causes; some cysts are part of normal menstruation functioning, though others maybe related to ovarian cancer. Learn more about ovarian cysts in this obstetrics video.
